A Prayer

असतो मा साद् गमय।
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय।
मृत्योर्मा अमृतम् गमय॥

Lead me from untruth into truth.
Lead me from darkness into light.
Lead me from death into everlasting life.

'Iraqi bloggers at home and abroad'

Hey all,

I was just looking at the news when I came across this BBC article featuring Iraqi bloggers and what they've been writing recently. It's really amazing to read what they are writing. Just writing about daily things that anybody in the world can relate to like fishing, school, vacations, playing games, etc. but in the middle of this is the fear of violence, the bombs in the neighborhood, inability to travel... It was amazing because reading what they wrote, for the first time I could really see the human side of things there - people I could relate to and who, in a different world, could be my friends, neigbors, or relatives.
Just the other day I was talking to someone and telling them about what I learned in India - that the key to getting past the steriotypes about people who are different - Muslims, Indians, poor people, rich people, or whoever, you need to actually talk to them and when you do, to try to understand things from their point of view. For so long I've felt that this is what we need more of in the media about the war in Iraq. We need a human face to the war. But I never even thought of looking for Iraqi blogs. But here they are. It's sad, the stuff that goes on, and yet these people live there and make the best of it that they can. I won't go on though. They can say things much better than I can.
I'm posting links to two of the blogs I read. Check them out.

http://livesstrong.blogspot.com/
Sunshine is a 15-year-old girl in Mosul, northern Iraq.

http://last-of-iraqis.blogspot.com/
Mohammed is a 25-year-old dentist in Baghdad.

Our New Slide Show on MySpace

Just to let you all know, we've added a new feature to our MySpace site. This slide show of all the pictures that we've previously posted to our blog here. :-) The older pictures are first but to see the newer pictures first just reverse the slide. To fast-forward just control the speed of the slide show. :-)

Peace (शांति),
J&D

Pictures: Annversary party with family and a new look for Joel.

Joel, Dana and family at Grandma's house for a cook-out celebrating both J&D's 3 year anniversary and Dana's other Grandma's birthday.

Before and After

Joel's new Amish style beard is really only temporary. Dana doesn't like it!!! :-D

Today's Quotes: The meaning of goodness expressed in life

[W]hen it comes to goodness, nothing can take the place of practice. Goodness is like playing a violin. All the musical theory, inspiration and sensitivity to local musical tastes in the world cannot make you into a musician. You have to practice.

...George MacDonald and C.S. Lewis reveal again and again in their fiction how people are formed by thousands of small, 'insignificant' acts. ...We are all moving - one day at a time - toward light or darkness, toward good or evil."


"Learning goodness from praxis means taking small, concrete steps to act out our stated beliefs. By action we gradually transfer what we believe is desirable into what we actually desire...

...A common error in Western-influenced thinking is to separate theory from practice and preparation from life. Not only what is learned but also how it is learned forms a person... All of our life is preparation for something else. And all of our life is also the thing for which we prepare. Living the goal cannot begin after preparation. Nor can it wait for adequate understanding. ... Now we must live the goal to the utmost extent that we know it. In such praxis the meaning of our faith is revealed to ourselves and those around us."

-from 'Strange Virtues' by Bernard Adeney

More Pictures from Greece

Today's Quotes: Action

"It is our actions that count. Thoughts, however good in themselves, are like false pearls unless they are translated into action"
-M. K. Ghandi

"The antidote to cynicism is not optimism but action. And action is finally born out of hope... The key is to beleive that the world can be changed, because it is only that belief that ever changes the world. And if not us, who will believe? If not you, who?"
-Jim Wallis

"If you want to see change, you have to be the change you want to see"
-M. K. Gandhi

"The greatest mistake is his who does nothing because he can do little."
-An unknown Zoroastrian

"No longer accept the unacceptable. Change what is believed to be possible. And always make the choice for hope."
-Jim Wallis